The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for providing automated delivery of gifts on behalf of a person or entity (either a “gift-giver” herein); and more specifically relates to systems and methods for receiving information on behalf of a potential gift-giver, and a potential gift recipient, and for enabling an at least partially automated method to initiate delivery of an appropriate gift at an appropriate time.
Giving and receiving gifts is a common practice in popular culture. Gifts are often given or received for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and other celebrations and events. While giving a gift may arise from a desire to please the recipient, or from a sense of obligation, or many other motivations, two common problems are faced by those who wish to give gifts. The first of these is remembering the dates and events for which one wants to give a gift. This problem is a common experience—forgetting to send a gift for a nephew's birthday, forgetting to send one's mother a gift for Mother's Day, and the like. A second problem faced by the gift-giver is choosing a gift that the recipient will like. Thus a grandmother may have no problem remembering her ten-year-old grandson's birthday, but will have great difficulty in determining what gift he might like to receive.
There are many known systems for keeping track of when gifts are due. These include older systems such as index cards for each day of the year that are sequentially rotated through the year so that as the card for a current event is removed from the front of the stack and placed at the back, the next card at the top of the stack will relate to the next event for which the gift-giver would like to remember to choose and send a gift to a recipient. Of course, many computer and web-based systems can also permit the entry of gift dates and send reminders in the form of email or similar messages. However, these systems do not provide for the choosing of a gift a particular recipient might like.
There are some known web-based businesses that will allow one to enter the age and gender of an intended recipient, and have the system provide one or more suggestions for a gift based upon what has proven popular for a person of that age and gender in that particular business. However, these systems do not automatically do so based upon an upcoming gift date. Further, they require the gift-giver to make a selection as to which gift to give, even if made from the recommendations provided by the business.
Finally, there is at least one web-based business which permits entry of dates on which a gift is to be given, and then automatically delivers the gift on or about the selected date with no further interaction by the user. However, this business is limited to flower delivery, and other than a pre-selection of the size of the flower arrangement, the business does not otherwise choose the gift, such as a particular flower arrangement, on the basis of age or gender. It makes no distinction, for instance, between the arrangement within the same chosen price range, in a flower arrangement sent to a 24-year-old girlfriend, and an 82-year-old grandmother.
A need therefore exists for a system and method whereby the date for a gift can be automatically remembered, and wherein an appropriate gift may be identified and delivered on or about the date of the event without action or intervention of the gift-giver. There is further a need for such a system which may accommodate circumstances in which one foreseeable criteria for an appropriate gift is the age or gender of the recipient, and wherein the system can facilitate delivery of a gift which is age and gender-appropriate.